


So You're The Girl

by preatorpercy



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, POV Rey (Star Wars), Reylo - Freeform, Slow Burn, little bit of reylo at the end, may turn into multi chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 17:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5975140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preatorpercy/pseuds/preatorpercy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coffee Shop AU - Rey is the only barista on shift at the cafe and she has her hands full. Then a haunting man by the name of Snoke walks through the cafe's doors, little time passes when Rey's co-worker Ben arrives. Snoke and Ben seem to know each other...</p>
            </blockquote>





	So You're The Girl

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the support XD  
> Please comment your thoughts if you enjoyed it :)

It was 7:05 am and Rey had already served 40 customers. How did she know it was 40? The amount of times she’d had to count to 10, and then added upon that number every time her patience was tested. So she was now counting from 400. Rey took a breath, there was a break in the stream of customers, she glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching her then swept her phone out of her apron. She pressed down hard on the faulty power button and watched the screen glow to life. She checked the top left corner of the screen but found no envelope symbol to alert her of a text. Rey sighed in frustration and shoved her phone into her apron. So, she was on lone duty until further notice… perfect.

She scrunched her nose up and scratched at a pimple forming between her eyebrows. Who cares about the cafés reputation? People must know that from the time they set foot through the door they’d most likely already contracted several hybrids of Hep A. She felt something give underneath her fingernail and brought it down to inspect. A small speck of white clung to the tip of her middle finger’s nail. Alright, maybe she would wash her hands. She spared one last peek at the door before turning around and speedily washing her hands. When she was done Rey ripped off a paper towel square, dried her hands then bunched it up and chucked it into the trash bin basket-ball-style. She almost squealed with glee when it got in.

Someone cleared their throat and Rey spun around. “Uh- wha- how may I help you?” she forced a smile onto her face.

Her newest customer, a short man with an unfortunate neck beard, cleared his throat once more and spoke with a rough accent. “Give me a… big Espresso.”

Rey’s smile strained, “an Americano?”

“Yeah, a big Espresso. Make it hot and bitter,” he strained the words hot and bitter as if Rey wouldn’t be able to grasp the intensity at which he needed his coffee to be just that.

“Regular or large?”

“Large, and make sure it’s hot and bitter. I’m gonna have a very long day.”

Rey wrinkled her nose at that, it was now 7:15 am, which meant she’d been at work for two hours and she wouldn’t go home until well past 9:30 pm. Now that was a long day. “One large Americano comin’ right up,” she entered the order into her register, “that’d be-”

“I’ll also take a bacon and egg sandwich,” he added.

Rey struggled to keep her smile as she walked to the display cabinet and produced a greasy sandwich, “to go?” she called out.

The man, who had been poking the cupcake display lid, looked up and replied hoarsely, “to go, obviously. And hurry up.”

Rey dropped the sandwich into a brown bag and dumped it on the counter, just out of the man’s reach. “That’d be $11.50.”

He fished out exact change and she printed out his receipt. “The coffee will only take two minutes.”

Rey abandoned the til to make the coffee. This was all but a simple routine to her, heat the water, scoop the coffee beans into the grinder, fill the portafilter, press the coffee powder down with the tamper, lock that into the brewing group, pour the hot water into a travel mug, flick the switch, place a cup under the spout, wait for it to fill with espresso liquid, then pour the espresso into the hot water. She fitted the lid then called out for the man.

He grumbled a thank you and exited the café.

Rey blew a strand of hair out of her face and cleaned up the machine. While she did that she thought about the café.

Unkar’s Café was by no means attractive. The countertop was always sticky no matter how hard Rey scrubbed, the red upholstery in the booth seats had split and yellow foam oozed out like pus from a wound, the coffee was bitter, and something in the storage room made Rey gag whenever she passed it. But somehow customers always filtered through the frosted glass doors right to her. And somehow she always greeted them, her face aching from smiling too wide and too much. There must be something in the air because nothing logical was keeping her here. The pay was minimal, her health was at risk from simply breathing the bitter air, her co-workers were rude and unreliable- well, excluding Ben. He was always happy to take over her shifts or help her while on his break. Being reminded of Ben she check her phone again. The warning:

LOW BATTERY

5% POWER REMAINING

flashed across her screen.

Rey growled and dismissed the warning. She knew what she would find, or wouldn’t find, but her heart dropped when no envelope was displayed.

⇹

“Two Flat Whites to go!” Rey shouted into the chatter of the café.

“That’s us,” a man with red hair and a tall blonde woman approached the pickup counter. The man wore a black suit and a sneer, and the woman was dressed similarly, except for a silver necklace that looked like it had been wrapped around her neck four times.

The woman gave her thanks while the man had already made it out of the door.

It had been half an hour since Rey last checked her phone, and she fought the urge to dip her hand into her apron and check. She reminded herself that it had probably run flat so even if Ben did confirm he’d be there to relieve her of her third shift her degraded DROIDUM BB-8 wouldn’t alert her.

A young woman thundered through the door, almost knocking over the menu stand and skidded to a stop in front of Rey and her cash register. Her dark hair that had come lose from a bun and hung over her eyes was sent flying from her heavy breaths.

Rey had seen her type before, a young, desperate assistant, hanging on by a thread, struggling to keep up with their demanding employer. So she wasn’t surprised when the young woman chucked a few notes on the counter and choked out, “three… capp-cappuccinos… one… large Mocha… and one… espresso.”

Rey announced the total, then counted up the cash. There was $7.00 remaining. Rey held it out to the woman, “$7.00 in change.”

Right then a phone went off and the woman hurriedly brought it up to her ear. In between the conversation she managed to tell Rey to put it in the tip jar. Smiling happily, Rey slipped the change into the half full jar. There had to be $100 in there, at least.

Rey got to work on the machine, she was just about to mix the espresso with the hot water when a chill went up her spine. The tempered air of the café felt as though it had dropped to 2 degrees. She furrowed her brow and looked up. Standing so still, he could have been a wax statue, was a man well over 6 feet, he had a papery complexion and a deep scar that sliced through the middle of his forehead. A new wave of chills rolled over her and Rey wished she’d looked away because his eyes locked onto hers. His dark eyes which seemed too dark to be natural didn’t waver. She felt like a trapped animal, like she was a small rat and he was the snake that had her trapped in his stare. Then his eyes shifted to his watch and then to his phone.

Rey realized she’d been holding her breath and released her lungs. She shakily continued to make the assistants coffees when she felt another chill. She didn’t want to look up, she felt him there, his tall frame casting a shadow over her working hands.

She willed herself to ignore him and carried on. One by one she brought the coffee up to the pick-up counter where the assistant’s fingers twitched impatiently. She felt the shadow move to her left, there was no feigning innocence now, she’d seen him and he knew.

“Can I help you?” she squeaked, careful not to look him in the eyes.

She was met with silence. Rey swallowed carefully and grabbed a cardboard cup holder and quickly stuffed four cups into one then stacked the other in the center, her hands were shaking so bad she almost dropped the whole lot when she lifted them into the assistant’s palms. The assistant said something but Rey didn’t hear it. She was too caught up in steadying her rapid breaths and concentrating on not throwing up. Something was happening to her but she didn’t know quite what. Was it the man? But how could he make her feel this way?

“I’ve been waiting to order for the last ten minutes,” said a deep voice.

Rey shot up and she immediately reeled back. The tall man with the scar was inches from her face, so close that she could see every crease in his brow and pore on his skin.

“I-I’m s-” Rey stammered. She balled her fists into her apron but the shaking continued.

“No matter,” he waved his hand and smiled tightly.

Rey cocked her head, confused. Then she felt her face flush hot. With renewed confidence Rey returned his smile and was about to ask him what he wanted when a low whisper made her ears prick up.

“Snoke,” the voice was soft, male. She knew that voice. Ben.

The man - Snoke - didn’t turn, but his eyes developed a hint of something that made Rey’s blood freeze. “Ah, Ren.”

Ren? Snoke said it with a familiarity, and authority that Rey had only heard between a parent and their child. No, don’t do that. _Touch with your eyes, not your hands._ But this Snoke didn’t seem like family, he didn’t even know Ben’s name.

Ben stepped up from where he was out of view and Rey’s heart skipped a beat, just as it always did when she saw him. His hair formed a dark halo around his pale face, beauty marks speckled his forehead and jaw, dark brown irises reflected the whole room, and sometimes when she stood close, she could she herself in them as though looking through a mirror. He was tall as well, only an inch or two shorter than Snoke. She noted his eyes were downcast and his full lips were set in a straight line.

“So…”

Ben flinched at Snoke’s voice, causing something to stir in Rey’s stomach.

“This is where you work?” Snoke lazily gave the café a once-over then settled his eyes on Ben. “You serve these people coffee?” He sounded almost angry, like Ben had failed him. There was something perverted in the way he looked at Ben, his eyes were too confident trailing over the wiry body beside him. Rey felt sick.

Instead of replying Ben just nodded and clasped his hands together.

Snoke rested his hand on the counter top, making his body inch closer to Ben’s, “we all have to start somewhere, don’t we? Some at cafés and some…” he trailed off, but whatever he left unsaid had grabbed Ben’s attention.

His eye’s went wide, “you mean-”

“Yes,” Snoke hissed.

Rey had had enough, she pushed her chest out and lifted her chin.

“It’s time fo-”

“Ben!” She barked.

All heads in the café shot up suddenly aware of the apparent stand off. Ben’s head almost collided with Snoke's, at the sudden realization of his closeness Ben took a step back. His eyes flicked between Rey’s and Snoke’s.

Cold eyes pierced hers and she almost shrank back but she remembered Ben’s face. One that usually always held an arrogant smirk, or soft eyes, or lips that twitched when he was fighting a smile. One more look at Ben and her resolve hardened.

“Ben,” she jerked her thumb, “your shift started one hour ago. Get ready.” He stared dumbfounded at her. He took a breath to say something but Rey cut him off, “and sir,” Snoke remained statue-like, attached to the counter, “if your aren’t going to order anything I suggest you leave.” Rey’s voice wavered slightly on her last word.

A twisted smile played on Snoke’s face and he nodded to Ben, “We will meet soon, Ren.”

Rey didn’t give Ben time to respond because she reached over the counter and shoved him in the direction of the staff room. He tripped over his own feet and smashed into the pastry case then dashed through the swing door.

Rey picked up a washcloth and started wiping around the coffee machine, sweeping stray coffee grounds and powder into her hand then shaking them off into the trash bin. She knew Snoke was still there but she went about cleaning anyway. She started moving on to the coffee machine which she had abandoned as soon as the assistant had left when her neck prickled. She rolled her eyes and spun on her heels.

“So you’re the girl,” Snoke said, almost to himself rather than to Rey.

She snorted, trying to give off an air of boredom but her mind immediately started working. He said the girl with a hint of something like fascination. Had Ben said something to him about her? Why would he? She hadn’t even known Snoke existed until 15 minutes ago, and already he knew her? Was intrigued by her?

“Are you going to order? Because I have paying customers.”

Snoke looked behind him, when he saw there was in fact no one there he clicked his tongue. “No, no, I have a meeting now anyway.” He peeled his pale hand off the counter and calmly exited the café.

Rey smirked and looked down at the place where his hand had been on top of the oak patterned linoleum. Well, sticky residue was good for one thing, after all. Snoke probably wouldn’t get it off his palm for days. 

A woman stepped into the café and Rey readied her I-live-to-serve smile when Ben swept past her and entered his code into the register. He flashed his blindingly white teeth that pretty much guaranteed a phone number slipped into his hand when the woman left, and that was the end of Rey’s shift. At least until her break was over and she’d be back to work.

Rey eyed him carefully as she untied her apron and didn’t take her eyes off of him until she had passed through the staff room door. The drone of the café was instantly cut off when the door squeaked to a close. Rey made her way to the fridge but hesitated when her hand touched the chilly handle. It was barely halfway through the day and she only had one sandwich left, should she wait? Her stomach growled in protest.

Hunger wasn’t something Rey couldn’t handle, but it felt good to eat. Eating, oddly, was more foreign a concept than hunger. Her stomach growled once more, this time longer and deeper and Rey gave in.

An audible gasp left her lips as Rey was looking at a fridge not holding the one sandwich she’d expected, but stacks of sandwiches, all wrapped in cling wrap. Rey dropped her head and the cool air rolled over her face. Inside of the sandwiches were all types of fillings. Some had rich red jam, others ham or tuna, but there was one that stole Rey’s attention and brought up another growl she picked it up and carefully opened the small cabinet above the sink and produced a small plate.

On her way to the out-of-place glass coffee table she kicked the fridge door closed and felt a tinge of satisfaction when the whole thing shuddered. She unceremoniously flung herself to the ground and kicked off her worn down boots.

The little _clink_ of the plate against the glass table made Rey want to sip hot tea out of a delicate china teacup. She unwrapped the sandwich and was about to take a bite out of it when she felt a pang in her chest.

Carefully, she re-wrapped the sandwich and gave it one longingful look then lifted herself up and marched back into the café.

Without bothering to see if he was serving a customer Rey approached Ben and wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt him tense up then relax. She smiled inwardly at the feeling of his shoulder blades massaging her face.

Rey pressed her body into his and whispered into his cotton shirt, “thank you.”

Instant warmth covered her hands as one of his smooth hands covered hers.

She gave his body a squeeze then slipped her arms from him. Tears prickled her eyes as she returned to her sandwich.


End file.
